


Two Souls 두개의 심장

by FictionWriterD



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, Bleach - Freeform, F/M, Korean, Korean Characters, Korean Religion & Lore, Manga, Spiritual, Supernatural - Freeform, Swordplay, soulreaper
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29227488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionWriterD/pseuds/FictionWriterD
Summary: For hundreds of years the Chilseok Festival was used to by people to express their feelings to others.  However, what happens when a spirit falls for a human girl?Jeung is a member of the soulgadeu (Soul Guard) that keeps the spirits of the departed in the famed City of the Dead and he has been alone for all the centuries that he has been dead.  So when the girl named Nari has gotten his interest but doesn't know he is not alive, how can he possibly express himself?  Especially when outside forces, such as a monster known as a Soultaker, makes itself known?





	1. Chapter 1

The crows are restless, thought Jeung as he walked towards the bridge that led to his destination. The large ebony birds were typically messengers for the dead and like a temperature gauge they could tell when activity in the other world was on the rise. The small curved bridge on the island of Yeonog was one of four bridges connecting the city to the rest of the island, going over a small stream that was from a small waterfall up north. The trees leading up to the bridge were green and full of life, unlike the ones on the other side. Fitting as the trees on the other side were grey and brittle, which was perfect for the locale of City of the Dead.

Jeung reached the bridge and already he could see the countless tombstones scattered throughout the area, meaning he was close to what he could consider 'home'. To the south was the human city of Danku, the capital of the island and nearest population center. Activity from Danku to the tourist attraction of the Dead City was substantially higher than normal this time of year but Jeung knew precisely why.

"The Chilseok Festival is in two days," said the spirit as he stepped foot onto the old wooden bridge. Dressed in all black attire more akin to the time of Joseon including the black gat that signaled what he was, the spirit had the look of a young man in his late teens but he had been a spirit for many hundreds of years. He had lost count of how many years he had been dead, yet it didn't bother him. He had lost his left arm as well as his left eye when he died. He could go on without remembering anything else if need be. Remembering that the festival was coming up didn't stir any memories either.

Least none he wanted to.

The moon shined its light down on him and Jeung came to a stop at the center of the bridge. He turned to look back over his shoulder to the heavily lit city of Danku and knowing that its seven hundred thousand humans lived in blissful ignorance of the Dead City's inhabitants was all that he wanted. Unless one had the proper sixth sense the spirits went unnoticed on the island. Most lived in the Dead City to await their passage to the next life. Then there were spirits like Jeung who were part of a force known as the soulgadeu (Soul Guard) to keep the peace between the living and the dead.

The living weren't an issue as much as keeping restless ghosts within the borders of an ancient city. Good thing rest wasn't necessary as much as it had been when he was alive and so Jeung kept up his routine of patrolling the edge of the city.

A small ringing of a bell was heard and broke Jeung out of his thoughts. Sighing lightly he reached under the left side of his hanbok and pulled out a small hexagon shaped mirror encased in bamboo. Known as a channeler this little device was the spiritual equivalent of a smartphone to the Guard and allowed them to communicate with others over long distances.

The face in the channeler was that of an older man with a full grey beard and also wearing a gat. "Jeung."

The younger Soul Guard nodded once in respect to his superior, "Lord Yi Wu."

Yi Wu was a much older spirit in the form of an eighty year old man but still kicking like he was in his youth. He was the leader of the Guard and the one that Jeung answered directly to when he had to. "The night is young, Jeung, there's work to be done."

No sweetener to it or humor to his orders, just like always, thought Jeung. Not that he expected his master to be jolly.

"Where am I needed, master?"

"A small group of recently dead spirits have escaped the City and are heading to Danku. Please fetch them before they cause trouble."

Jeung didn't feel the need to hide his displeasure. "Sounds like a chore. Send someone else."

The face in the mirror did little to hide the displeasure handed to him. ""You're the closest to their last known location. I'd appreciate it if you would go and apprehend them."

Jeung knew he couldn't argue with such logic. As one of the only guards out right now he was indeed the only one who could do so. He bowed his head once, accepting his fate, "Very well Master."

"And Jeung? No distractions."

That last sentence from his superior, though he acted as if he hadn't heard him, had an extra amount of emphasis on it that the feeling was hard to ignore.

Jeung pocketed the channeler and turned around, now facing in the direction of the city of Danku, and took the first steps back across the bridge. He wasn't expecting anything interesting to happen, but hoped that he would be proven wrong.

As soon as she got home Nari went straight to her room and, after tossing her schoolbag to the side fell face first onto her bed and groaned loudly into her pillow. "What a day!"

A tough day of school followed by an even tougher session of after school work and now at about ten at night she was beyond tired. Yet even as she rolled onto her back to stare up at her ceiling she knew her day wasn't done yet. 'I still need to call Chan-mi to reserve that hanbok for the festival...'

Chan-mi was a fifteen year old outcast at her school and would be described as a Lolita with a goth complex. She was the one who always wore black and appeared in her own little world. Not only that but she was a fortune teller and there were times she appeared to have somewhat divine power That was because she had totally expected Nari to come to her with her request.

'A beauty like you needs a hanbok, for your future is bright if you choose to use one,' she had told her prophetically. When Nari had asked why she had only smiled. Though she called her a friend even Nari was a a little spooked at how she knew. She didn't think it was luck, either.

Getting up from her bed Nari started to move along with her routine of getting ready for bed-after she called Chan-mi for word on that hanbok she was lending her. She reached for the phone with one hand while the other started to unbutton the white shirt of her uniform.

The phone only rang once before a calm feminine voice answered on the other end, "I knew you'd call."

Rolling her eyes Nari spoke, "Sure it's not caller ID?"

She heard Chan-mi chuckled, "No, the cards told me. The hanbok is ready for the festival, just come and pick it up tomorrow after school. I'll be in my usual spot."

The usual spot for Chan-mi and her clique of goths was behind the school's gymnasium, hidden in a cluster of trees.

"Okay," was how Nari responded, though she actually wanted to know how the girl knew her size but decided not to. She slipped off her shirt and reached up to untie the ponytail in her hair. Now dressed in nothing but a white bra and her black school skirt she went towards the large windows near her bed and grabbed the curtains. "Anything else you want to add before I go?"

Nari For a moment she hoped that Chan-mi wouldn't answer. she should have known better. She went "Actually yeah I do. I don't want to freak you out but you're being watched."

Was that by coincidence she was at her window? A part of her felt a little freaked out but she was more curious, and so she casually looked around. Down at the street below and on the rooftops of the houses that surrounded her own home. She didn't see anyone even after looking in the shadows to make double sure that there was no one to see her. Thinking she'd see someone with binoculars peeking in on her she closed the curtains and turned back to the phone on her shoulder. "Don't scare me like that..."

"Didn't mean to, but don't worry I don't think he is the stalker type. In fact, I think you might like him if you meet him," said Chan-mi playfully. "Well, I got to go, I 'll see you after school."

She hung up and Nari tossed the phone onto the bed. "What did she mean by that...never mind," she took a big breath and began the process of getting ready to take a bath.

From where he stood a mile or so away, Jeung realized that he had disobeyed his master by being distracted by this human girl he knew as Nari. Meeting her a few days ago on one of the bridges leading into the City of the Dead Jeung had become enamored of the teen at first sight.

Well, all she had done was greet him as she had passed him, which normally wouldn't be something to talk about. However, since Jeung was just a spirit the fact that she had been able to talk to him let alone see him was more than worthy of his attention.

He knew how strange it was for him to be watching her without her consent, but the guard felt like this was the bet option for the moment. 'Going to talk to her is out of the question,' he thought, feeling a bit of anxiousness build up in his belly.

He sighed, feeling so defeated by his own inaction that he turned away from Nari's house. He needed to vent, and so he resumed his mission of tracking down the renegade spirits.


	2. Chapter 2

The night continued on towards ten and Jeung had searched the north of Danku for any signs of the three spirits that had gone astray from the City of the Dead. More than two hours of searching through the darkness among the wight bark lifeless trees and his frustration was growing deep within.

Yet he had a mission to do and he would do it, regardless of how much he didn't want to.

Stopping on a thick branch the soul guard kept his senses sharp as a blade and his one good eye scanned the darkness. The forests north of Danku but south of the City were an anomaly of nature. Thin trees with bone white bark remained lifeless the entire year. No matter how much they tried the humans would never make them bloom with life again. That's because the forest was part of the dead city's domain, its essence of death infected the area and would stay that way until the end of existence.

Jeung kept his eye out for his quarry, even with one eye he found it easy to see through the darkness. It didn't take him long to see it. The white wisp of a spirit.

"There they are..."

With supernatural quickness he went after it, hopping from branch to branch in a zig-zag pattern, only stopping when he got ahead of the three spirits in an area surrounded by large white rocks. He stood up and announced his presence, "In the name of the Soul King, I command you to halt!"

A wisp starts out as a small white sphere which a spirit can use to travel unnoticed. The humans who capture them on their film cameras see them as motes of light often mistaken for specks of dust. On Yeonog, however, the wisps look more like spheres of floating gas until they change back into their human appearances.

The three spheres burst like popped balloons and were enveloped in smoke that lasted but a few seconds before their human appearances were seen. The three spirits were all middle aged men and dressed in white period clothing befitting that of peasants or merchants. Even in the afterlife their status remained the same.

The three men dropped to their hands and knees when they saw the badge on the guard's breast.

The first one, a man with a thick white beard, raised his head and spoke in a frightened tone. "P-Please, i don't want to go to hell!"

Jeung took a step forward. The three men shook in their place, though one was less jumpy than the others. "Is that why you fled? To see that your judgment is not passed?"

The second man, more wrinkles hidden behind his thin beard, raised his head as well, his grey eyes pleading with the soul guard. "Please! We were just old men in life! We do not deserve the fate the gods are sure to give us-"

Their pleas hit the cold stern wall Jeung had fortified. He had to be, his duty called for it. "Your actions in the first life are what determine your destination in the second. You have only yourself to fault for that."

The two men lowered their heads in shame, knowing the guard was right, and awaited his next action.

Jeung didn't have to think hard. He would be a bit lenient this time around. "Come back tot he City quietly, and I will make sure your punishment isn't harsh."

He looked up when he heard the rustling of tree branches and quickly noticed that the third spirit was gone. His fear of going back to the city was too much to bear and so he took off even with the guard's warning.

Sighing in annoyance Jeung calmly walked past the two kneeling spirits. "Stay right there until I get back." His right arm reached around to his left hip and pulled out a dagger from under his robe and he lept to the nearest tree to begin his pursuit. It didn't take long to catch up due to the way the spirit was trying to get as far away as he possibly could and was thus running itself ragged by the time Jeung caught up to him.

This time the guard didn't waste any words. He landed in front of the spirit and, without a second thought, drove the blade of his dagger into his chest. The spirit was caught off guard and his expression was one of complete shock as he looked up at the sorrowful face of the soul guard.

"You shouldn't have run. Now your sentence will be heavier than before."

The dagger, known as a Capturer, was more than just a weapon. It was also a way to detain escaping or hostile spirits. It was, more or less, the spiritual equivilant of hand restraints though a lot harsher. Instead of putting on simple metal cuffs it actually absorbed the spirit into the dagger itself.

That is what happened to the fleeing spirit as he was absorbed he tried to scream but within seconds of being stabbed he was gone.

The weapon was a bit colder to the touch as Jeung put it back in its sheath. Now that all three spirits were accounted for he could return the other two to the City for reevaluation and send them on their way to the afterlife.

With that thought he made the short trek back to the other two spirits, hoping the remainder of the night would be less exerting.

Yet, even after making the report back to the home office that he had detained the three spirits and said he would be reporting back shortly, he couldn't help but make a slight detour through Danku. A familiar route that cut through the residential neighborhood back to Nari's house. He was in the same spot he was earlier which was the roof of a nearby house. Far enough for him to check up on her but far enough away where she shouldn't be able to see him or the two spirits.

He knew that by the lateness of the hour she would be going to bed or even be asleep. Still he wanted to see her one last time before she would turn in for the night. He yearned for it, though he couldn't explain why.

This time he got more than he bargained for when he saw her through her window.

He saw her standing in a similar place as he had before, on the phone with someone, but her hair was slick and wet and she was dressed in black short shorts and a white shirt. Her night clothes no doubt. A white towel was wrapped around her slender shoulders.

She laughed on the phone, her smile brightening up the night like the moon. And he was mesmerized by her.

He just couldn't explain what it was about this human girl that, out of every human or spirit he had encountered over the centuries, this one had his attention.

He wished he knew, and until he figured it out he wasn't going to rest easy.

He kept watch on her, watching her every move until Nari got off the phone and closed the curtains on her window.

With a dejected sigh Jeung resumed his duty, but he wished her good night before he left.


End file.
